1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an electro-optical device such as a liquid crystal device and a method for producing the electro-optical device. In addition, the invention further relates to an electronic apparatus such as a liquid crystal projector.
2. Related Art
In the typical configuration of an electro-optical device of the related art, an electro-optical material such as liquid crystal is sealed between a pair of substrates. A lamination structure that is made up of a plurality of pixel electrodes, a plurality of scanning lines for selectively driving the pixel electrodes, a plurality of data lines, and a plurality of thin film transistors (TFT) each of which functions as a pixel-switching element is formed over the display region of an element substrate, which constitutes one of the above-mentioned pair of substrates. In such a lamination structure, an inter-bedded insulation film is formed between one layer and another for providing isolation therebetween. An electro-optical device of the related art having such a configuration is capable of operating in an active-matrix driving scheme. In addition, various kinds of circuits such as a scanning line driving circuit, a data line driving circuit, and the like as well as various kinds of wirings/lines such as an image signal line and the like are also provided on the peripheral region that surrounds the display region of the element substrate so as to constitute a peripheral lamination structure. In the typical configuration of the related-art electro-optical device, a storage capacitor is provided between a TFT and a pixel electrode in order to enhance contrast. A storage capacitor is formed in the non-open region of each of a plurality of pixels in addition to a scanning line, a data line, a TFT, and the like.
In connection with the configuration of a storage capacitor, for example, JP-A-2006-276118 discloses a technique for preventing the occurrence of unwanted electric current leakage between an upper capacitor electrode and a lower capacitor electrode thereof. The related art described in the above-identified patent publications achieves the prevention of unwanted electric current leakage by increasing the inter-bedded distance (i.e., layer-to-layer distance) between an end surface of the upper capacitor electrode and an end surface of the lower capacitor electrode by means of a spacer insulation film. In the following description, the above-mentioned unwanted electric current leakage between the end surface of the upper capacitor electrode and the end surface of the lower capacitor electrode is simply referred to as “end surface electric current leakage” as long as the context allows.
In order to reduce the adverse possibility of disarrangement in the orientation state (i.e., alignment state) of an electro-optical material because of unevenness in the surface the above-mentioned lamination structure formed over the element substrate, planarization processing such as chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is applied thereto in many of the related-art electro-optical devices.
However, if the above-mentioned spacer insulation film is formed for a storage capacitor that is formed in the non-open region whereas it is not formed in the open region, the surface level difference between the non-open region and the open region increases by the film thickness of the spacer insulation film. This poses a problem that has not been addressed by the related art in that the increased surface level difference between the non-open region and the open region makes it practically impossible, or at least difficult, to smoothen the lamination surface of the element substrate.